Quest

The Quest is a great journey upon which all must embark. Somewhere above the Castle, between the dungeon levels 11 and 18 you will receive a message from your quest leader, saying they need your help. Search the level, and you will find a magic portal to the start level of your quest. Assuming you are of at least 20 alignment and experience level 14, you will be allowed on the quest to recover a magic artifact stolen from your people. The entrance to the quest proper will be a down stair on the same level as your quest leader. The bottom level of the quest will hold your quest nemesis. Kill the quest nemesis, take the artifact and the silver bell back up to your quest leader, and continue onwards down the dungeon.

Contents

The exact composition and inhabitants of the Quest depend on your class, but some features are consistent for all of them.

The first level, also known as the "Home" level, is always the same for a given role. It contains your Quest leader and several Quest guardians -- friendlies to add flavor to the level. The only exits from the Home level are the portal back to the main dungeon and a down staircase. In order to go down the staircase, or proceed on the Quest in any way, you must receive permission from the Quest leader. If you meet the requirements, simply walk up to the leader and #chat if (s)he doesn't initiate conversation automatically. The level is no-teleport, and the walls and floor are un-diggable.

The second level is a randomly-generated filler level, and depending on your role could be a room-and-corridor level, a cavern, or a special type of level.

The third level is the "Locate" level. This level is always the same for a given role, and a message will be displayed each time you enter until the Quest nemesis is killed. The walls and floor are un-diggable. Other than that, there is nothing special about it.

Below the Locate level will be one to three more filler levels, which may be the same or a different type than the upper filler level.

The last level is the "Goal" level. It is always the same for a given role, and a message will be displayed each time you enter until the Quest nemesis is killed. The nemesis will be generated asleep and meditating, carrying the Bell of Opening and with the Quest artifact on the floor on their space. The walls and floor are un-diggable, and on the Rogue and Samurai Quests, the level is no-teleport.

Monster generation in the Quest is biased toward monsters that fit the theme of the Quest ("quest monster") -- undead for the Priest Quest, centaurs for the Ranger Quest, leprechauns and nymphs for the Rogue Quest, etc. This "biased" part of monster generation is not subject to extinction. There will still be randomly-generated monsters, however.

The locate and filler levels are eligible to leave bones; the home and goal levels are not.

A quest leader is the one who verifies that you are ready to go to the quest and assigns you the mission. If you attack the quest leader or fail the alignment test more than seven times, you will be expelled from the quest and the magic portal will be removed. Only if you can branchport back in, you can still pacify him and obtain permission to do the quest; otherwise, the game is unwinnable.

A quest nemesis is the one who you must defeat to reclaim your quest artifact and the Bell of Opening. It's possible to ascend without killing your quest nemesis, but this is exceedingly rare.

Many, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest. This
is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
make the Quest interestingly difficult. [...]
In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
has a further Rule: Tourists, far from being rewarded for
achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both. And
why not? By then you will have had a lot of practice in
that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
designed to help you do it.